This morning I felt like a fraud

The Morning I Felt Like a Fraud

This morning, I sat at breakfast while absolute chaos broke out around me.

Spilled milk. A crying child, refusing to sit in his high chair. A child making lots of extra noise with forks. Two children refusing to eat. My husband and I both so exasperated, we didn’t have the energy for creative interventions. And I couldn’t remember the last time I took a deep breath.

And somewhere in the midst of it, while trying to keep the lid on my own frustration and exhaustion, I had this very loud, very defeating thought:

“Who do I think I am to write a blog offering insights and hopes for joy?”

I didn’t feel joyful. I felt depleted. Numb. A little hollow and a lot overwhelmed. The kind of overwhelmed where you don’t even have the energy to cry — you just stare at the mess and keep buttering toast.

And then — a quieter thought whispered in:

“Maybe that’s the point.”

Maybe I don’t write from the mountaintop.
Maybe I write from the valley. From the cereal-strewn kitchen floor. From the in-between.

Maybe this blog isn’t about being the expert, the healed one, the always-joyful voice. Maybe it’s about being a fellow traveler. A hand reaching across the mess. A voice saying, “Me too.”

Because the truth is, this isn’t the first time I’ve felt like a fraud. And it won’t be the last. But every time I name it, and still choose to show up — something softens in me. Something opens. And that, I think, is where the healing begins.

So today, this is what I’m bringing to the page:
Not a list of tips. Not an answer.
Just presence. Honesty. A seat at the table for the parts of us that feel like they’re not enough.

If you’ve ever felt like a mess — you’re not alone.
If you’ve ever felt like you don’t belong in the healing work because you’re still healing — you’re not alone.
If you’ve ever questioned your worth because of how loud and chaotic life is — you’re not alone.

This blog — All The Mama Therapy — isn’t a pedestal. It’s a circle. You’re welcome here, in all your beautiful mess.

We don’t need to be whole to hold space. We just need to be human.